In 2012, Sarah McBride first made national headlines when she came out as transgender while serving as student body president at American University.

As national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), McBride supports a range of programs and campaigns that improve the lives of LGBTQ people by increasing understanding and encouraging the adoption of LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices in schools, the workplace, healthcare facilities and faith communities.

This year, McBride made national headlines yet again when she was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, making history as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, McBride serves on the Board of Directors of Equality Delaware, the state’s primary LGBTQ-advocacy organization. In that capacity, she helped lead the successful effort to add gender identity and expression to her state’s nondiscrimination and hate-crimes laws. In 2008, McBride worked for Governor Jack Markell (D-DE) and, in 2010, for former Attorney General Beau Biden (D-DE). Prior to the HRC, she worked as campaigns and communications manager for the LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress and interned at the White House—the first out trans woman to do so.